


Until You Come Back Home

by Pins_and_Patches



Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Childhood Trauma, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fable is now drowning in an indescribable emptiness (happy guitar solo), Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Loneliness, Loss of Parent(s), Mental Health Issues, Nightmares, Paranoia, Past Character Death, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, References to Depression, Sibling Bonding, Trauma, Zelda (Legend of Zelda) Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, eventual hurt/comfort, that's not a tag but i'll make it one
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:40:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26905273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pins_and_Patches/pseuds/Pins_and_Patches
Summary: Whenever Legend leaves, Fable finds herself plunged into a horrible state of fear and loneliness.Without their parents, she has no one to keep her company. Impa tries, the servants around the castle try, but nothing they can do will ever make her feel better. None of them understand what she's been through.And the only person who does hates her.She yearns to see him again. As she is forced awake from nightmare after nightmare every single night, she wishes her brother were there with her, that he'd come back for her, just so she wasn't so lonely.And yet, when he does...It somehow feels worse than being alone.What she doesn't know, though, is that the feeling is mutual.That Legend misses her just as much as she does him.And that he's not the only one hiding the secrets which create the seemingly endless distance between the two of them.
Relationships: Legend & Fable (Linked Universe), Link & Zelda (Legend of Zelda)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 27





	Until You Come Back Home

The dining hall grew dim as the sky outside faded from the golds and oranges of sunset to the periwinkle of twilight, then darkened as dusk settled over everything, casting a deep sort of blue over the kingdom and silhouetting just about everything out the window.

By Fable's request, the castle stayed illuminated by just the sunlight which came in through the windows until night fell, so only now did servants begin going through the castle to light up the now darkened halls of the large castle, which was otherwise inhabited only by Fable herself and Impa.

One such servant, a recently hired young maid named Tahlia, if Fable's memory served her correctly, who came in to light the dining hall stopped upon seeing the princess.

She was just sitting at the empty table, picking at her food. She'd hardly eaten anything all night, and had this been an isolated incident, perhaps they wouldn't have been so concerned, but this was the third time in a week she'd been avoiding eating- or doing anything, really.

"Pardon me, your highness, but are you alright?" Tahlia asked. "You've hardly touched your food."

Fable mumbled a response, unsure of even what she'd said.

"Excuse me?" Tahlia asked after a pause.

"I'm fine," Fable said unconvincingly.

The look Tahlia gave her was torn- she knew it was unprofessional to be regarding the princess in such a way in the first place, especially to insist upon knowing things she didn't want to disclose, yet Fable's lie was clear.

"I see," She said finally.

No more words were spoken between them as Tahlia continued on her chores and left the princess to continue picking at her cold dinner, her stomach still too tight from anxiety to even try to eat.

There was nothing that made Fable feel more lonely than being in the castle, surrounded by servants often scared to even do so much as look her in the eye. Once upon a time, she'd been close to many of them, but now she was older and those times had passed.

Now she was always alone.

She shifted in her seat, staring intently at her dinner, trying to avoid her focus on the empty table which had once had four seats- now only adorned with the one she sat in- or the nearby window from which she could almost feel a dangerous presence.

Logically speaking, she knew nothing was there. Despite what the fear which plagued her insisted, she knew no one was after her. No one had found her, no one was going to take her, they were dead, Ganon was dead, _Ganon is dead._

She tightened her grip on her fork.

_Ganon is dead._

Trying to push the memories out of her head, she swallowed hard and let out a breath.

It did nothing.

_Ganon is dead._

She swore she could hear his voice somewhere, feel his presence somewhere-

_GANON IS DEAD._

Where was he? She knew he was there- _Ganon is dead-_ somewhere, he was looking for her- _Ganon is dead-_ he was going to take her away again- _GANON IS DEAD-_ he was going to kidnap her and turn her into a painting again- _he's dead-_ or leave her for dead in a dungeon somewhere- _HE'S DEAD_ \- or kill her himself- _**GANON IS DEAD-**_ or do something else horrible to her-

**_GANON._ **

**_IS._ **

**_DEAD._ **

She pushed herself up from the table, letting the fork she'd been holding onto for dear life clatter onto the floor, and left the dining hall in a hurry.

The staff could all tell by her mannerisms she was not in the mood for conversation, so no objections were made and no one asked _where she thought she was going without telling anyone, young lady_ as she rushed through the castle into her bedroom, finally shutting the door behind her and collapsing not onto her bed but just onto the lush violet carpet that laid over the ground.

After a moment, she sat up, scooted over to the door and locked it behind her, then took off her dress from over her head and laid back down. Through her tank top, she could feel the soft carpet beneath her, and it helped her ground herself as it rubbed against her back and shoulder blades when she moved with every slow breath.

Fable's room was more guarded than most other places in the castle. This wasn't by the request of Fable herself but rather Impa, hoping to ease the princess's fears at least slightly.

And she'd never admit it, but it did put Fable more at ease knowing if Ganon tried anything again- _Ganon is dead-_ she'd be safe....

Hopefully.

_Ganon is dead._

Ganon was dead, and so were her mother and father.

She wasn't sure she remembered having ever met her mother, if she was being honest. She didn't remember her mother's face or voice, she hardly remembered her _name._

Once upon a time, she would've gotten up, put her dress back on and gone to ask her father- in fact, she was sure she'd done that exact thing before.

Not that she could remember now...

And besides, her father was dead too.

She turned, burying her face halfway in her carpet.

She didn't want to think about this now.

She was just tired.

Fable burst awake, still on the floor, the corners of her mind burning with sick feelings of terror and hate and loneliness. Her entire body was sore, but especially her wrists and her throat- as though she'd been screaming.

She raised a shaky, sweaty hand to her neck, hoping she hadn't screamed for real.

But she was sure it would've caused a ruckus had she actually done so.

She sighed, her throat still aching, body still sore and tense and shaky from adrenaline, now with a slight weight lifted off her shoulder.

It'd been one of those nightmares- the ones which evaded her the very second she opened her eyes, leaving her with nothing but their residual feelings.

Mental and physical, she noted as she tried to shake out the pain in her wrist.

It felt like someone had grabbed her, hard enough to leave bruises...

At just the thought, the feeling came back full force and she unwittingly yanked her hand away.

No one was there.

No one had come to take her, no one to comfort her, no one to hurt or save her.

She was alone.

She curled up on the deep purple carpet beneath her once more.

_I'm alone._


End file.
